The Dillenburger family can be traced back to ancestors living in the German region of Hesse in Germany during the 18th century. Unsurprisingly, the region surrounding the town of Dillenburg, Germany is likely the location of the earliest adoptees of the Dillenburger surname.

​Georg Dillenburger of Steinau an der Straße was a descendant of the Dillenburger surname. Born in 1823, Georg lived his entire life in the same city. He married Sophia Fink in 1851 and together they had seven sons and a daughter.  The six oldest sons were tall, muscular men who all joined the Gardes du Corps around 1871 to serve the as personal guards of the German emperor, Wilhelm I. The youngest son, Philipp Dillenburger, was much shorter than his brothers and did not have the desire to serve the German emperor. Instead, he found work as a shoemakers's apprentice in Steinau.

After the death of his father in 1892, Philipp Dillenburger decided he wanted to travel to America and try his shoe-making craft there. Philip spent two years saving up enough money for a transatlantic passage to America. Once he had enough saved, Philipp purchased passage on the steamship, S.S. Trave. Aboard the small steamer, Philipp kept his fellow passengers entertained using his witty humor and clever stories. Of these passengers, Philipp found a close camaraderie with  Charles Dinklelacker, who was only few years younger than Philipp. Charles was planning to move to Cincinnati, Ohio and find work as a baker there. He told Philipp many stories about the Queen city relayed to him by relatives that were already living there. Philip, in turn, described how his older brother, George, had previously travel to Cincinnati nearly a decade ago, and wondered if Charles would meet him someday.

On May 31, 1894, after an arduous two-week journey across the Atlantic ocean, Philip caught sight of the Statue of Liberty standing in the New York Harbor. The young immigrant soon passed through the inspection point on Ellis Island and with a clean bill of health began his new life in America. Philip spend the first few weeks working odd jobs in Brooklyn to pay for his basic necessities. After some time, Philipp was able to purchase a seat on a train heading westward towards Cincinnati, Ohio. He was excited at the prospect of seeing his brother, Georg Dillenburger, whom he had not seen for more than a decade.

Arriving in Cincinnati, Philipp rented a small storefront at 410 Bank St. in the West End. Here, he opened a small shoe shop. There were many other shoe shops located in this area, including one owned by the McDonald brothers. Despite the competition, Philipp's skills and jovial attitude proved enough to keep his shop operating for nearly thirty years.

After living in Cincinnati for two years, Philip started the process of becoming a nationalized citizen of the United States. In August of 1896, Philipp declared his intention to become a citizen in front of the Hamilton Co. probate judge, Howard Ferris. For the next four years, Philipp would continue his work as a cobbler and would eventually become a naturalized citizen on March 21st, 1900 with the support of his new wife, Ida Jaegle.

Following their marriage in 1899, Ida and Phillip purchased a small two-bedroom home located in the nearby Mohawk neighborhood at 304 Mohawk Street. Here, the young couple would start growing their family. Together they had three daughters, Sylvia, Anna and Olivia T, and three sons, Philip F. , Robert A., and George F.

Philip F. Dillenburger became a civil engineer and worked on many public improvement projects in Ohio. He also was one of the founding members of the Greenhills Home Owners Corporation which purchased the Greenhills community from the federal government in 1949.

Robert A. Dillenburger became an engineer/inventor and produced several patents for his designs. In 1962, he founded the Thuerig-Dillenburger Microscope Service which was eventually rebranded as Bolden Instruments in 1992.